Window operating device



July 17, 1956 P. RENAUD E'IAL WINDOW OPERATING DEVICE Filed June 25, 1954 Fig. 1

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Ernest P. Renaud and Russell K. Schlosser, Jr., Eric, Pa., assi'gnors to General Electric Company,, acorporation or-New vone Application June 25., 1954,, Serial No... 439,268. 6 Claims. or. 268-128 This invention. relates to a windowoperating device and: more particularlyto' a window locking slide.

Sash. locking mechanisms. often depend uponthe tension in a chain: to support the window in; the; proper. position which usually is accomplished bysome type: of locking mechanism. located betweenv the handle and. the driven chain. Such. a locking system is objectionable because. the-sash will be released when the; chainbecomes severed. When Windows. are raised or. lowered manually. without the use of acrank, one. means of fastening the sash is to attach;- a cam member to: the sash, so. balanced or. biased; that it slides on. the frame: and binds when the. sash tends to; move downward. This. cam requires a manual release when lowering the. sash.

It is therefore, an object of this invention to. provide a simple and reliable window slide; lock. which. is released by the. application of a force. to move the window in. either direction. 1 Further objects and advantages of this invention willbecome: apparent and. the invention will be better. understood by, referring-gto-thefollowing; description. The features ofnovelt-y' which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity inthe claims: annexed: to. andrfonmiug part. of this specification.

In: accordance with one-form of this. invention, we. provide' a window locking. slide: havingi mounted thereon a pivoted cam which is; biased into engagement. with a-locking surface to secure the slide, and also the window, in any desired position. The: window is. raised and lowercd. by means of a loop. chain having one; end attached to the slide and the other. end attachedto the cam. Move.- ment of thev chain in one direction pulls; the; slide and drags the cam. Movement of the chain in the other direction operates to retract the cam itself;

This invention: will be better understood by referring to the. following, detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1' isa side view of the window regulator;

Figure 2' is a partial end view of the window regulator shown in Figure 1 and showing its attachment to a window;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of the cam member shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a detailed view of a cam member of another embodiment of this invention.

Referring now to the drawings, to support the slide 1 of this invention, we have shown a frame member which may be attached to any door or wall requiring an openable window. When the window is moved, the slide 1 must move along some stationary surface such as that provided by the vertical member 4. The structure shown is merely indicative of a frame which will support the pulley system and furnish a guide for the slide.

A driven sprocket 5 and an idler sprocket 6 support a pulley belt means shown as a chain 7. A window 8 is attached to the slide by any convenient support means such as projection 9 (Fig. 2) on the slide 1 extending through an aperture in the sash of the window.

One preferred'slide is shownashaving a main Portion. or housing; 10. enclosing an ofirceuter pivotedcam: clamp 11.. The cam, 11 is held in contact with the guide bar 4 by the spring 12 having one end secured to. the housing 10'.. Any convenient mounting could be used for. the spring 12, but the simple tapped bar; 14 is preferred. The tapped bar should be secured. to the housing 10 bysimple; spot welds or bolts. To allow compensation for Wear or stretching in the chain or pulley system, a slack adjuster 1-5. is also mounted inthetapped bar 14. To guide. the slide 1 on the frame. bar 4, surface 13 of the housing 10 acts on the bar 4 opposite. the cam 11.

When the chain is tensioned. in. either direction, the cam. 11 is pulled; from locking; contact with the guide; bar 4 and. the slide is released tomove. Surface. 16 and. Pin. 17 prevent the slide 10 from rotating. relative to the; guide has 4; The; pin 17 on the slide 10 also'acts. as a stop for the cam 11' engaged after a small clockwise; movement. of the: cam after which there will be a positive downwardv pull, not merely the resilient tension of spring 12.

In operation, the spring 12 tends to force the cam. clamp 11 counterclockwise with its-curved surface against the guidebar 4 at. all times. The surface 13, prevents, the body of the slide 1 from being displaced relative to the guide. 4-, so that the cam exerts a definite. pressure. on the guide bar 4. When no force is. applied to the pulley rope 7 the spring 12 forces the cam clamp 11 against. the. guide surface of'the; bar 4 clamping the slide and guide. bar to lock. the. Window 8.

To lower thev window 8, the handle 20. is rotated so that. the chain 7 pulls the cam 11 downward, retracting the. clamp and pullingthe slide 1 downward- Wh n the handle 20. is. released the spring 12 again forces the. cam clamp. 11 against the guide surface of. the bar 4 and the window 8 is again secured. To raise the window, the handle. is. rotated so that chain 7 pulls onthe slack adjuster 1 5 which is secured to the housing 10. In this; direction the. contact between the-cam 11 and the guide. bar 4; trails-the pivotpoint 23 of the cam clamp. Thus, a slight upward movement of the slide 1 releases the clamping pressure allowing the slide 1 to movev freely upward.

Figure 3 shows. the; center 24 of the radius R of the; clamping: surface. The distance between the center. of rotation. of the cam. (point 23) and the. center radius of the cam surface (point 24). is indicated as the length L. The amount of force necessary to release the lock is proportional. to the spring. tension and the weight. of the window and. slide mechanism (if vertically mounted), and inversely proportional to the distance R and the disance: L. The coefficient of friction between the cam clamp 11: and; the guide bar. 4; also must be considered as. it determines. the amount of pressure to he appli d by the spring 12 as well as the sliding resistance to movement.

We prefer to use carbon tool steel for the cam clamp 11 while the guide surface should be made of ordinary steel. A cast iron cam operates satisfactorily when the guide surface is wood.

Referring to Figure 4, we have shown the steel cam clamp 19 as having a tool steel foot 21 pivotally mounted in the curved cam surface of the cam to slide on the guide bar. Although the principle of operation is not changed, this modified cam presents a larger contact surface with the guide bar so that slight wear will not effect R, L or the force necessary for release of the clamp. The pin 18 prevents the cam 19 from rotating clockwise enough to release the foot 21. Alternatively, the foot 21 could be journaled on a pin mounted in cam 19.

For proper operation of this window regulator it is essential that, when the operator 20 is released, there be notension in the pulley rope 7 to prevent the clamping operation of the slide. When tension is applied to the cam clamp 11, the window may be lowered. If there were tension in the chain at all times the clamp would not prevent the window from moving itself by gravity if vertically mounted or by inertia if horizontally mounted. This problem is solved by the proper use of the slack adjuster 15.

This type slide lock could, of course, be used where the guide surface is a portion of the window frame, where the means for preventing displacement relating to the guide surface is a bolt fastening the slide to the sash, and where the pulley rope or belt is of cotton; as long as the pulley rope retracts the cam clamp when the rope is tensioned in either direction and the cam is biased to engage the guide surface when the pulley rope is released. Such a pulley system would not require an idler sprocket. The operator might merely manually tension the lower end of the rope to move the slide in a manner similar to that above described.

While we have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of this invention, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. We desire it understood therefore, that this invention is not limited to the form shown and we intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An operating device for a window or the like slideably mounted in a stationary frame, a locking assembly attached to said window and positioned to engage a surface of said frame, comprising a cam pivotally mounted on said window, biasing means secured to said window for causing said cam to engage said surface at each position of said window, means for pulling said window in one direction to drag said cam across said surface and other means for pulling on said cam in the opposite direction to retract said cam and thereafter move said window.

2. In an operating device for a window or the like slideably mounted in a frame having a guide surface, a locking assembly attached to said window near said guide surface comprising a housing, cam pivotally mounted in said housing to engage a surface of said frame, biasing means secured to said housing for causing said cam to engage said surface, means secured to said housing for pulling said housing in one direction to drag said cam along said surface, and other means for pulling on said cam in the opposite direction to release said cam and then move said housing.

3. In an operating device for a window or the like slideably mounted in a stationary frame support, a slide assembly attached to said window for moving the window and positioned to engage a surface of said frame support, comprising a housing, a cam pivotally mounted in said housing, biasing means secured to said housing for causing said cam to engage said surface, rope means '4 secured to said housing for pulling said housing in one direction to drag said ofi-center cam on said surface, and other rope means secured to said cam for pulling on said cam in the opposite direction to release said cam.

4. An operating device for a window or the like slideably mounted in a frame comprising a guide surface attached to said frame parallel to the line of motion of the window, a slide member operatively attached to said window and adapted to engage said' guide surface, cam means attached to said slide for engaging said surface, biasing means adapted to cause said cam means to engage said guide surface, chain means attached to said slide for pulling said slide to overcome said bias and to release the cam engagement, the chain means attached to said cam means for pulling said cam to retract the cam engagement and overcome said bias whereby the window may be moved in one direction by pulling said slide and may be moved in the other direction by pulling said cam.

5. An operating device for a window slideably mounted in a frame comprising a guide surface attached to said frame parallel to the line of motion of the window, a slide member operatively attached to said window and adapted to engage said guide surface, a cam attached to said slide, a tool steel shoe mounted on said cam near said guide surface, biasing means adapted to cause said shoe to engage said guide surface, a chain mounted on sprockets, one end of said chain being attached to said slide for pulling said slide to overcome said bias and to release the shoe engagement, and the other end of said chain being attached to said cam means for pulling said cam to retract the shoe engagement and overcome said bias whereby the window may be moved in one direction by pulling said slide and may be moved in the other direction by pulling said cam.

6. An operating device for a window slideably mounted in a frame providing a guide surface parallel to the line of motion of the window, comprising a slide member operatively attached to said window and adapted to engage said guide surface, a cam pivotally mounted on said slide, a spring biasing said cam to engage said guide surface, a driving sprocket and an idler sprocket mounted on said frame, a loop drive chain mounted on said sprockets, one end of said chain being attached to said slide for pulling said slide to overcome the bias of said spring and to release the cam engagement, and the other end of said chain being attached to said cam for pulling said cam to retract the cam engagement against said bias whereby the window may be moved in one direction by moving the chain to pull said slide and may be moved in the other direction by moving said chain to pull said cam.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS ed-L 

